Harare (New Ziana)-India has promised to donate 75 000 Covid-19 vaccines to Zimbabwe to support the country’s fight against the global pandemic, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Friday.

The donation comes a day after the country launched a nation-wide Covid-19 vaccination programme, initially targeting frontline health workers and vulnerable people.

The initial vaccination phase is using 200 000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine donated to Zimbabwe by the Chinese government.

Zimbabwe expects 600 000 more doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China, and others from Britain, India and Russia.

In a tweet, President Mnangagwa said India had pledged to donate 75 000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

“We are grateful to our Indian friends for committing to donate 75 000 Covid-19 vaccines and for the opportunity to buy more moving forward.
“We are working tirelessly to obtain sufficient vaccines so we can overcome this virus and revive our economy,” he said.

So far, the country has registered 1 420 Covid-19 deaths and 35 543 infections.

The government is eager to arrest Covid-19 infections and deaths, particularly of the deadly South African strain of the pandemic which authorities admitted this week was prevalent in the country.

Zimbabwe plans to inoculate 60 percent of its population by year end.

Speaking when he launched the vaccination programme on Thursday, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Health and Child Care Minister, said the country would be receiving vaccines every fortnight.

New Ziana